any ordinary day...

i had an interesting conversation with my mother last week...

me:  (sleepily) hi, mom.

mom:  i didn't realize you were sleeping.  i won't keep you long.  just calling to wish you a happy birthday.

me:  it's not my birthday, mom.
mom:  it's not?  

me:  no... that doesn't happen until tomorrow.

mom:  are you sure?

me:  pretty sure.

mom:  well... happy birthday, anyway.  

yep... that pretty much sums up life at present.  

this vacuum of inspiration and motivation has left me reconsidering the people, places, and things i have loved across my lifetime.  in this vein of thought, i recently woke up with a desire for something so simple and ordinary, it seems almost impossible to believe i have denied myself the pleasure for more than 20 years.


can you spot the forbidden culinary treat?

somewhere back in the nineteen hundred and eighties (doesn't it sound ancient?), the FDA issued a slew of warnings on the dangers of eating under-cooked eggs on account of the horror commonly known as salmonella (i may have to bathe my fingers in holy water to remove the curse of typing the word).  being young and impressionable as i was, the countless reminders splashed across every form of media available at the time left me frightened that my much loved soft-boiled or over-easy egg was a guaranteed sentence of death.  gone were the fingers of buttered toast dunked into a creamy yolk.  gone was the joy of piling bacon and egg between two halves of a toasted English muffin... then pressing down till the drops of golden yellow began to seep along the edges (that my mother was disgusted by this ritual only added to the enjoyment).  looking forward to Sunday brunch (which simply meant eating breakfast later than usual) was the only thing that made sitting through the early church service tolerable.  gone too was the privilege of licking the last traces of batter from the spoon and bowl when my mother made cakes (i was convinced that the raw eggs in the batter would kill on contact).  for over two decades, i waited, and seethed, and gasped in shock every time i saw someone consume an egg that was not cooked to the point that it could be used to drive nails into the hardest of lumber.


then i woke up yesterday with an overwhelming desire to try something so foreign to the norm... it seemed almost brand new.  now, not having boiled an under-cooked egg in decades, i cracked open the shell...

...only to realize that i had been a bit overzealous in my timing.

three and a half minutes later...

toss in a pinch of the cracked pepper (the current mix is black and green peppercorns with whole coriander and allspice) and pink sea salt lingering on my plate...

i took the big plunge with a piece of well-buttered, toasted English muffin from the past weekend's experimental baking...

it's funny how something so under-whelming can be the most incredible thing i've tasted this side of the millennium.  further proof that all those FDA warnings should sometimes be taken with a grain of salt... and buttered toast.

stuff...

so... i'm working on a sweater/shrug/cardi, called Georgina (here on Ravelry).  about halfway through, you're instructed to take the oddly-shaped piece of lace off the needles...

 and block it aggressively...

(which just means to soak lightly and pin it out till it dries).

after removing about a million pins, the lacework stays open!!!

because there was nothing better to do, i created SpongeBob PinHead!!!

and took about a hundred photos of a silly grey kitty i found climbing all over my stuff.

something old, something new, something curly, something blue...

so, i bought this book last week...

and read every word on every page the same day ( i actually fell asleep with the book in my hand that first night). there were so many beautiful photos and techniques to get the spinner's imagination racing, but my heart just about stopped when i got to this page...

now, i must admit that my French vocab is limited to the items that end up on a shelf in either my kitchen or bathroom, but this is one word of French every knitter instantly recognizes.  bouclé (literally, curly) is a type of yarn that is characterized by a curly or knobbly texture, depending on the materials used.  i have adored handspun bouclé yarns from a distance, but i was always too intimidated to give it a try... until now.  so, with my new bible at my side, i searched for some suitable materials to sacrifice to the gods of trial-and-error... and i began to spin.

i settled on using the wool as my loop and the blues as my core and binder, so i continued spinning wool singles...

then wrapped that around my core. that blue yarn made for a lousy core and snapped multiple times from being held taut.  several splices later, i finally had a bobbin full of wrapped core yarn ready for the final step.

using the same stupid-thin thread as my binder, i plied it back in the opposite direction, doing my best to open up the curls along the way (which would have been easier had i not done so thorough a job of wrapping the core). because of the color contrast, it is incredibly easy to see where i lost control of the process.

even after spending the night on the niddynoddy, there is zeroooo balance in this finished yarn.  it is curly in more ways than one.

...but everything looks pretty twisted into a hank.  not bad for a first effort.

oh... and i made stupid-good cupcakes, with creamy,whipped frosting...

in a word... yummm!

gone native...

whipped up something awesome for lunch today.  fettuccine with SNAILS (!) in a light garlic, butter, olive oil, lemon, and gin (!!!) sauce, finished off with fresh thyme and a healthy shaving of quality Parm.   i broke about every convention of culinary etiquette by accompanying this with a painfully dry red... but rules are made to be broken.  

the breakfast of royalty...

there i was at 4 A.M., munching on a Minneola orange and catching up on my latest television obsession (which shall go nameless, lest i be judged by my viewing habits), when it occurred to me... the Minneola is the perfect cooking orange.  it has far more flavor than should be allowed in a single piece of fruit, including the highly fragrant rind.  imagine compressing a half dozen "regular" oranges into one... and tossing in a Meyer lemon or two for even more absurd deliciousness.   winter is orange season, and a bag of Minneolas in my grocery basket is a guarantee of good things to come.


while the orange can be easily integrated into anything from a flavorful couscous to a decadent cheesecake, i could not resist the call of a simple breakfast fit for the aristocracy.  the scone, let's face it, is at its core a pedestrian shortbread masquerading as royalty.  think: buttermilk biscuits... with a pedigree.  the cranberry-orange scone is a familiar sight at coffee shops trying to appear swankier than they really are, but 1) i don't have any dried cranberries on hand, and 2) i'm not a fan of the cranberry... so i went in a slightly different direction using whatever i could find in my baking stash.  behold... the Minneola orange, raisin, walnut, brandy scone (scroll down for the recipe).  and yes... that was my breakfast.  the boy had one with a cup of tea, and the remainder were sent off with him to work.  yes... i am... i mean... we are awesome.

speaking of royalty... after saying goodbye to my cupcake Diesel shortly before Christmas, Santa brought me two lady kiddies who definitely think they are my social betters in every possible way.  i introduce to you (Lady) Ophelia "Philly"... a.k.a. Ninja-kitty... a.k.a. The Shadow... a.k.a. "hey you... get your head out of my glass!"....

Philly

and, (Queen) Titania "Titty"... a.k.a. Mama-kitty... a.k.a. The Bandit... a.k.a. "dude... i just put fresh water in your bowl... why are you drinking out of the toilet?".

Titty (left) and Philly (right)

they are incredibly sweet, though a bit skittish as they get used to their new home... but i still miss my Cupcake terribly.

Diesel (Cupcake)

Minneola-orange raisin walnut brandy scone
1 c. raisins (or dried cranberries, if you must)
zest of 1 Minneola orange
juice of 1/2 a Minneola orange (~2 tbl.)
1 tbl. brandy
1/3 c. super-cold butter or margarine (i used margarine, because i prefer the finished texture in scones)
2 c. all purpose flour
2 tbl. sugar (brown sugar is the default around here, but use whatever you have)
1 tbl. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. + 2 tbl. cream or half-and-half (substitute with non-skim milk, if that's what you have on hand)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

icing
1/2 c. icing sugar
1/2 tsp. brandy
1-2 tsp. Minneola orange juice


the Thompson raisins i had on hand were rather large, so i cut them up, added the zest, juice, and brandy, mixed to combine, and let it sit covered for half an hour.  if you're in a hurry, nuke it in the microwave for 20 seconds and let it cool to room temperature for about 10 minutes.

while the raisins are macerating, put the butter in the freezer.  when you're ready to make the dough, combine the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl.  whisk the eggs and 1/2 c. cream together in a separate bowl (you can place this mixture in the fridge to keep it cold).  cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.  work quickly to avoid the butter softening.  add the raisins, walnuts, and  egg-cream mixture (hang on to the egg-cream bowl), then use a fork to combine, scraping around the sides of the bowl as you go.  you're scraping and cutting into the center of the mixture, turning the bowl as you go.  avoid over-mixing.  it should resemble a moist, but not sticky, dough.

turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured board, and press (don't knead) it into a disc about the size of a dinner plate.  using a sharp knife (i used a dough scraper), cut the disc into 10 wedges.

arrange the wedges on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  add the remaining cream to the bowl that held the egg mixture, swirl to combine any remaining traces of the eggs, then brush onto the tops of the wedges.

as a general rule, i usually leave baking powder-leavened doughs to sit at room temperature for a few (3-5) minutes before placing them into the oven.  this allows the baking powder to get a head start on doing its magic before the crust starts to harden in a hot oven.  bake the scones in the top half of a 400ºF oven for 10-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through for even browning.  move the scones to a cooling rack, then drizzle on the icing (make sure you put something below the rack to catch potential drips).